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St. Augustine priest killer expected to plead to avoid death penalty

Steven Murray and Father Rene Robert

A disturbed Jacksonville transplant who admitted he abducted and killed 71-year-old Father Rene Robert last year is expected to plead guilty this month, effectively avoiding trial and taking the death penalty off the table.

The Diocese of St. Augustine issued a statement Thursday morning that Steven James Murray, 30, reached an agreement with the state of Georgia. District Attorney Natalie Paine did not return phone calls seeking comment. In a text message to Times-Union sister publication The Augusta Chronicle, she said she had no comment.

According to the statement from the diocese, Murray agreed to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole. A sentencing hearing is set for Oct. 18 in Waynesboro, Ga., according to court records.

Kathleen Bagg, a diocese spokeswoman, said Robert’s sister informed her an agreement has been reached after learning about it and the upcoming sentencing from a victim’s advocate. She said she contacted the court Wednesday to confirm such an arrangement.

Bagg said she also ran a draft of the diocese’s statement past the court official for approval prior to sending it to the media. “I feel very comfortable with the statement,” she said.

After dozens of exclusive interviews with the Times-Union last year, the newspaper in its “Road to a Killing” story explored Murray’s tragic upbringing and how his moral descent ended in the horrific death of Robert, a St. Augustine priest.

Murray has spent about half his life behind bars beginning at the age of 11 when he was first sent away.

As a youth he said he got into trouble intentionally to escape the horrors of his childhood.

Murray and his two sisters said their father physically and sexually abused them. Police in South Carolina opened up multiple investigations into their father, Bobby James Murray, on allegations of sexual abuse. However, the charges never went forward because Murray’s sisters recanted their stories. Another brother who is in prison for a murder conviction, also told authorities his father sexually and physically abused him.

The Times-Union reviewed thousands of pages of documents from police and social service investigators regarding the abuse allegations and investigations. Two police officers in South Carolina told the newspaper they believe the abuse happened, but their hands were tied because the sisters routinely recanted the allegations after being sent to foster care. The sisters told the Times-Union they were frightened what their father would do to their mother if they didn’t recant.

Bobby Murray moved from Aiken, S.C., to Jacksonville a few years ago to follow one of his daughters. Steven Murray was also a new transplant after having lived briefly in Jacksonville and coming back in 2015 after a 22-month prison stint.

About the time of Robert’s death, Bobby Murray was arrested in Jacksonville on allegations he exposed himself to children at a pool. Jacksonville authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on those charges after he failed to show up for a court date because he was temporarily incarcerated in South Carolina. He is now back jail in South Carolina after being arrested Sept. 27 on kidnapping, armed robbery and criminal sexual battery charges.

The younger Murray blamed his father for his horrible decisions in life. He said he was just 11 when his father sexually assaulted him and then later made him assault his sisters. He said his father coerced him to do drugs and commit other crimes.

“He didn’t try and fix what he created,” Murray told the Times-Union. “He didn’t try and stop the monster that he made.”

Murray said his plan all along was to kill his dad, not Robert. “I was at a breaking point, in a mental state of mind,” he said last year.

Robert, a Franciscan involved in prison ministries, was one of the only adults whom Murray could count on to help him in a time of need.

Murray told the paper that Robert often let him use his car and gave him money. He said in April 2016 while driving around with Robert, he decided he wanted to head north to see his children in South Carolina. While en route, Murray said he forced Robert into the trunk of his own car and told him to be quiet. He said he kept hearing Robert’s voice telling him he was going to go back to prison. Murray said he panicked, stopped in Georgia and shot him.

A manhunt for Murray and the priest lasted days and spread from Florida into Georgia and South Carolina.

Shortly after his arrest, Georgia officials said they were seeking the death penalty, something that Robert was against. In 1995 Robert signed a declaration of life and left it with his personal records, directing that should he ever become a victim of a homicide, he did not want those convicted to be executed no matter how heinous the crime nor how much he may have suffered. Because of this and that the church as a whole believes the death penalty only contributes to an ever-growing disrespect for the sacredness of human life, the diocese pressed prosecutors in Georgia to no longer seek the death penalty.

“I am pleased an agreement has been reached between the state of Georgia and Steven Murray,” said Bishop Felipe Estevez of the diocese in the statement. Murray, the statement says, deserves to be punished. “This decision is just and will help Father Robert’s loved ones find closure without the anguish of enduring years of court proceedings.”

Crystal Murray, Steven Murray’s youngest sister, said her brother needs psychological help, something she said he is not getting in the Clayton County jail.

Crystal Murray said she received a postcard from her brother the other day that said: “Life sometimes gets tricky when there’s drugs in the way. It is going to be all OK. I love you with all my heart.”

Eileen Kelley: (904) 359-4104

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